730/Food for Thought

Food for Thought
Date of Scene:	19 December 2015
Location:	Pikarigaoka - Clover Street - South
Synopsis:	Reiko invires Ikiko over for dinner since she had dinner over her place not that long ago! The two discuss the elephant in the room issue of Ayana-chan and some other issues- like Grandpa knowing about Reiko's Magical Girl-ness now.
Cast of Characters:	Reiko Touyama, Ikiko Hisakata

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Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama invited Ikiko over, since she got to eat dinner at her family's the otherday, it only seemed fair. Grandpa was cooking! He was making some sort of noodle dish with a brown sauce. It didn't have a name- it's one of the things he ate during wartime and now he cooks it here. He's always called it some japanese word for 'hodgepodge'. Regardless, while Grandpa is still cooking, Reiko leads Ikiko up to her room. There's a lotta koi going on in here.

Her lampshade has tiny orange fish on it, she has some plushies, one old one that stands out. She has some hanging framed pictures and there's a koi trim. The fishy madness stops there luckily. The carpet is a plush red.

She sits on the bed. "Um...." she says first as she blushes. "First..um.. there's no real need to...." she says. "...be careful around my grandpa with stuff. He.. um."

"He can see my fish-- he asked me about it. I .. had to come clean." she says with a soft sigh. "oh...! I didn't, tell him anything about anyone else- or you, but..."

"Just saying." she says looking down. "I didn't even know he could see them all this time. He never said anything until the other day." she says weakly. "He hasn't asked me much about it since. Just. He said it's okay for me to talk about that stuff if I need to."

"Grandpa is always understanding like that. He was barely phased." she pouts. "I think he got over it once he realized there was koi floating around the house..." she mutters and crosses her arms.

"Um..." she says, trying to think of a way to breach the topic that isn't being a big jerk.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
It was easy enough for Ikiko to get her family's permission to visit Reiko; checking up on a Curse Hunter case is a perfectly valid reason, even if that might not be the whole story. The cooking hodgepodge smells tasty, even if it doesn't really have a name beyond that; she's looking forward to trying it.

She sits in a nearby chair, nodding as Reiko explains about her grandpa. "Good to know," she remarks. "I still won't go out of my way to be obvious about it, but it's good to know that I don't have to worry as much about hiding it, either." Being able to give a straightforward explanation for why you have to do something is useful when it's needed, after all!

"So, what's on your mind?" Ikiko inquires.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama nods. "It's okay if you talk to him about stuff too... he's my grandpa and--he might not really understand I guess..." she says. "...he knows all about the game me and Mei-chan played and what that means if it's 'real'..." she says.

She sort of shifts uncomfortably.

"...Ikiko-chan...." she says. "You haven't talked to me at all about Ayana-chan since I told you about that incident... are you keeping things to yourself? You're not going to do anything foolish without me... right? And----.....!"

"... did you find out anything new at all? I've been staying away from most of my usual places..." she says quietly looking down.

"Have you run into her...?" she asks.

"I mean. I knew we were going to need to fight I guess but--she's different. Right?..." she asks.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
"I've only encountered Ayana once since then," Ikiko sighs. "Earlier this week, even. Got into a yelling match with that jerk of a so-called 'brother' of hers because he was sending out energy-draining pulses, then I tried to reach her with a howl. It did... something, like it hit her heart, although it doesn't feel like anything's changed much."

She ponders some of the other happenings from that battle. "Another magical girl recognized me from an earlier time when she wasn't a magical girl, and she offered to help, but the fight took a lot out of her and she had to retreat," the sometimes-wolfgirl muses.

"Oh, I also learned a few things about Ayana," she adds. "From another magical girl who seems to be a friend of hers, even in her evil state! Apparently Ayana's a familiar, which means she has a bond with Riventon because he made her using dark energy, and that emotional bond we accidentally made messed that up, which really made the magical girl mad."

Ikiko sighs quietly. "That magical girl did a justice speech at me, and kicked me across the roof! Now I can't go back to the burger stand, because she'll probably try to beat me up again, and I don't want to fight her," she sulks. "I didn't even get to finish eating the snack I was having!"

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama seems to think on this. "Well..." she says. "It's not like... you did that on purpose..." she mutters. "And----" she sighs and sort of holds her forehead. "It was an accident and---a good one too! You two were like--super cute together!" she says with wide eyes.

"--and...I mean..I wish it could be that easy with the guy I like and---" she crosses her arms.%R
"I think I have competition for that too." she pouts.

"My MAGICAL LOVE ROSE..." she does not yell it out, it's just capitlized by nessicity. "...didn't even work..." she mutters.

Then she blinks.

"Oh--uh. right." she blushes. Why'd she go off on THAT tangent anyways!?

"Um..I've been.. trying to..speak to Hiroko.. too." she mutters. "I--um.. I asked if she could teach me to be elegant and she agreed. I think she got some kind of kick about me asking /her/ for help." she sighs. "But..I feel bad she..."

"Well we went to a clothing store and----"

She pauses. "Ugh! I'm sorry Ikiko I'm really scatter brained recently I----"

She sort of places her hands on her face. "I haven't been sleeping really well." she mutters.

"Okay...Ayana..um...."

She thinks.

"Could we... um... make her..touch the locket again...would...something happen then..?" she asks.

"No..bad idea. We shouldn't let her anywhere near any of our things! Um..."

She sighs and crosses her arms. "I should had just tired to blast her with my Chroma Palette Cleanser when I had the chance but I didn't want you to be upset at me if I hurt her..." she says shyly, rubbing the back of her head.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata walks over and gives Reiko a hug. "You didn't want to hurt your friends," she says with a quiet smile. "Either directly, or indirectly."

She thinks for a moment, then shakes her head. "No matter what the other people are saying,the locket didn't change how we were feeling," she remarks, then blushes slightly. "Okay, so it allowed us to realize that we liked each other so much that it was more than just friendship, but we might have eventually realized that anyway; the locket just sped it up."

A slight frown crosses her face. "I don't think the Lycan Locket would make her stop being evil," Ikiko sighs. "And I don't think it would be comfortable to have an emotional bond with her like we had when she's being almost as much of an evil jerk as Riventon."

Her frown softens into a more thoughtful expression. Her howl had channeled her feelings, like it always does; the howl seemed to stun Ayana, and caused pain to her 'linker core', whatever that is. Is that a fancy name for a heart? And why had the howl been less effective in getting her feelings across to Ayana that day?

"Ugh, I feel like I'm close to understanding something, but I don't have enough info!" she groans, flopping back down into the chair.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama frowns. "Whatever has a 'hold' over her forced my Chroma Crystal to react like she was a Shade or something else dark like that, so--I guess that what you've told me makes some sense." she sighs and hugs weakly. "I know it upset me enough that my koi talked and---forced me to henshin even though I didn't want to." she mutters.

"--they haven't talked since. I've talked to them for hours and they just stare at me and sometimes head tilt confusingly. I think they were just saying what I was afraid to at the time.." she mutters. "Like you suggested..."

"..and that's a whole other can of worms if I can say stuff when I don't want to.." she blushes.

"Ugh, embarassing!" she mutters.

"I dunno what I can do, Ikiko-chan..." she admits. "But... maybe my color energy can help..." she says silently. "If your howl did something..." she mutters. "I mean..your howl beat a Shade once so..."

"Something must be similar right?" she asks.

Ikiko Hisakata has posed:
Ikiko Hisakata nods. "It's bound to be worth a try," she agrees. "Color energy chases away darkness; maybe it can do something about the darkness around Ayana?" It's not much of an idea, but it is the start of an idea!

The mention of Shades reminds her of something. "Say, how active have the Shades been, Reiko-chan?" she inquires. While Tsukiko might not be able to help much in facing Shades, she still wants to help her friend.

Reiko Touyama has posed:
Reiko Touyama sort of shrugs. "Sometimes...I feel something. So does Roy. But...it goes away. I think Grisedla is playing smarter after you and I beat her without the help of more Prism Keepers. Sneaking up, taking a little here and there now---- But..."

"It's really just a matter of time before Miss White and Mister Black show up... the Monochrome Duo. Griselda's flunkies..." she sneers.

"If Grisedla won't do her own dirty work she'll send people who can do it for her..." she huffs.

"I haven't seen those two yet and it's worrying." she says looking down.

She peeks back up with a smile. "But.. it's okay!" she says with a smile.

Then more serious.

"We'll... get Ayana-chan back /somehow/..." she says. "...or back to how she was..." she murmurs.

"Between the two of us..."

"Maybe we can do something..." she murmurs.

"Dinner's ready!" says Grandpa.

Reiko's eyes light up. "Food! Ready Ikiko?" she asks.